An experimental evaluation of error seeding as a program validation technique

A previously reported experiment in error seeding as a program validation technique is summarized. The experiment was designed to test the validity of three assumptions on which the alleged effectiveness of error seeding is based. Errors were seeded into 17 functionally identical but independently programmed Pascal programs in such a way as to produce 408 programs, each with one seeded error. Using mean time to failure as a metric, results indicated that it is possible to generate seeded errors that are arbitrarily but not equally difficult to locate. Examination of indigenous errors demonstrated that these are also arbitrarily difficult to locate. These two results support the assumption that seeded and indigenous errors are approximately equally difficult to locate. However, the assumption that, for each type of error, all errors are equally difficult to locate was not borne out. Finally, since a seeded error occasionally corrected an indigenous error, the assumption that errors do not interfere with each other was proven wrong. Error seeding can be made useful by taking these results into account in modifying the underlying model

Generic metrics and the mass endomorphism on spin three-manifolds

Let $(M,g)$ be a closed Riemannian spin manifold. The constant term in the expansion of the Green function for the Dirac operator at a fixed point $p\in M$ is called the mass endomorphism in $p$ associated to the metric $g$ due to an analogy to the mass in the Yamabe problem. We show that the mass endomorphism of a generic metric on a three-dimensional spin manifold is nonzero. This implies a strict inequality which can be used to avoid bubbling-off phenomena in conformal spin geometry.Comment: 8 page

The Cauchy problems for Einstein metrics and parallel spinors

We show that in the analytic category, given a Riemannian metric $g$ on a hypersurface $M\subset \Z$ and a symmetric tensor $W$ on $M$, the metric $g$ can be locally extended to a Riemannian Einstein metric on $Z$ with second fundamental form $W$, provided that $g$ and $W$ satisfy the constraints on $M$ imposed by the contracted Codazzi equations. We use this fact to study the Cauchy problem for metrics with parallel spinors in the real analytic category and give an affirmative answer to a question raised in B\"ar, Gauduchon, Moroianu (2005). We also answer negatively the corresponding questions in the smooth category.Comment: 28 pages; final versio

Properties of high emittance materials

High emittance coating materials for beryllium, niobium-zirconium compounds, and stainless steel used in spacecraft radiator

Dirac-harmonic maps from index theory

We prove existence results for Dirac-harmonic maps using index theoretical tools. They are mainly interesting if the source manifold has dimension 1 or 2 modulo 8. Our solutions are uncoupled in the sense that the underlying map between the source and target manifolds is a harmonic map.Comment: 26 pages, no figur

On a spin conformal invariant on manifolds with boundary

On a n-dimensional connected compact manifold with non-empty boundary equipped with a Riemannian metric, a spin structure and a chirality operator, we study some properties of a spin conformal invariant defined from the first eigenvalue of the Dirac operator under the chiral bag boundary condition. More precisely, we show that we can derive a spinorial analogue of Aubin's inequality.Comment: 26 page

Methanol exchange between grassland and the atmosphere

International audienceConcentrations and fluxes of methanol were measured above two differently managed grassland fields (intensive and extensive) in central Switzerland during summer 2004. The measurements were performed with a proton-transfer-reaction mass-spectrometer and fluxes were determined by the eddy covariance method. The observed methanol emission showed a distinct diurnal cycle and was strongly correlated with global radiation and water vapour flux. Mean and maximum daily emissions were found to depend on grassland species composition and, for the intensive field, also on the growing state. The extensive field with a more complex species composition had higher emissions than the graminoid-dominated intensive field, both on an area and on a biomass basis. A simple parameterisation depending on the water vapour flux and the leaf area index allowed a satisfying simulation of the temporal variation of methanol emissions over the growing phase. Accumulated carbon losses due to methanol emissions accounted for 0.024 and 0.048% of net primary productivity for the intensive and extensive field, respectively. The integral methanol emissions over the growing periods were more than one order of magnitude higher than the emissions related to cut and drying events

The annual ammonia budget of fertilised cut grassland – Part 1: Micrometeorological flux measurements and emissions after slurry application

Two commercial ammonia (NH<sub>3</sub>) analysers were customised to allow continuous measurements of vertical concentration gradients. The gradients were used to derive ammonia exchange fluxes above a managed grassland site at Oensingen (Switzerland) by application of the aerodynamic gradient method. The measurements from July 2006 to October 2007 covered five complete growth-cut cycles and included six applications of liquid cattle slurry. The average accuracy of the flux measurements during unstable and near-neutral conditions was 20% and the detection limit was 10 ng NH<sub>3</sub> m<sup>−2</sup> s<sup>−1</sup>. Hence the flux measurements are considered sufficiently accurate for studying typical NH<sub>3</sub> deposition rates over growing vegetation. Quantifying the overall emissions after slurry applications required the application of elaborate interpolations because of difficulties capturing the initial emissions during broadspreading of liquid manure. The emissions were also calculated with a mass balance method yielding similar fluxes. NH<sub>3</sub> losses after slurry application expressed as percentage of emitted nitrogen versus applied total ammoniacal nitrogen (TAN) varied between 4 and 19%, which is roughly a factor of three lower than the values for broadspreading of liquid manure in emission inventories. The comparatively low emission factors appear to be a consequence of the low dry matter content of the applied slurry and soil properties favouring ammonium adsorption

The annual ammonia budget of fertilised cut grassland – Part 2: Seasonal variations and compensation point modeling

The net annual NH<sub>3</sub> exchange budget of a fertilised, cut grassland in Central Switzerland is presented. The observation-based budget was computed from semi-continuous micrometeorological fluxes over a time period of 16 months and using a process-based gap-filling procedure. The data for emission peak events following the application of cattle slurry and for background exchange were analysed separately to distinguish short-term perturbations from longer-term ecosystem functioning. A canopy compensation point model of background exchange is parameterised on the basis of measured data and applied for the purposes of gap-filling. The data show that, outside fertilisation events, grassland behaves as a net sink for atmospheric NH<sub>3</sub> with an annual dry deposition flux of −3.0 kg N ha<sup>−1</sup> yr<sup>−1</sup>, although small NH<sub>3</sub> emissions by the canopy were measured in dry daytime conditions. The median Γ<sub><i>s</i></sub> ratio in the apoplast (=[NH<sub>4</sub><sup>+</sup>]/[H<sup>+</sup>]) estimated from micrometeorological measurements was 620, equivalent to a stomatal compensation point of 1.3 μg NH<sub>3</sub> m<sup>−3</sup> at 15 °C. Non-stomatal resistance to deposition <i>R<sub>w</sub></i> was shown to increase with temperature and decrease with surface relative humidity, and <i>R<sub>w</sub></i> values were among the highest published for European grasslands, consistent with a relatively high ratio of NH<sub>3</sub> to acid gases in the boundary layer at this site. Since the gross annual NH<sub>3</sub> emission by slurry spreading was of the order of +20 kg N ha<sup>−1</sup> yr<sup>−1</sup>, the fertilised grassland was a net NH<sub>3</sub> source of +17 kg N ha<sup>−1</sup> yr<sup>−1</sup>. A comparison with the few other measurement-based budget values from the literature reveals considerable variability, demonstrating both the influence of soil, climate, management and grassland type on the NH<sub>3</sub> budget and the difficulty of scaling up to the national level

Experimental evidence for the role of cantori as barriers in a quantum system

We investigate the effect of cantori on momentum diffusion in a quantum system. Ultracold caesium atoms are subjected to a specifically designed periodically pulsed standing wave. A cantorus separates two chaotic regions of the classical phase space. Diffusion through the cantorus is classically predicted. Quantum diffusion is only significant when the classical phase-space area escaping through the cantorus per period greatly exceeds Planck's constant. Experimental data and a quantum analysis confirm that the cantori act as barriers.Comment: 19 pages including 9 figures, Accepted for publication in Physical Review E in March 199