1,354 research outputs found
Strong Dependence of the Inner Edge of the Habitable Zone on Planetary Rotation Rate
Planetary rotation rate is a key parameter in determining atmospheric
circulation and hence the spatial pattern of clouds. Since clouds can exert a
dominant control on planetary radiation balance, rotation rate could be
critical for determining mean planetary climate. Here we investigate this idea
using a three-dimensional general circulation model with a sophisticated cloud
scheme. We find that slowly rotating planets (like Venus) can maintain an
Earth-like climate at nearly twice the stellar flux as rapidly rotating planets
(like Earth). This suggests that many exoplanets previously believed to be too
hot may actually be habitable, depending on their rotation rate. The
explanation for this behavior is that slowly rotating planets have a weak
Coriolis force and long daytime illumination, which promotes strong convergence
and convection in the substellar region. This produces a large area of
optically thick clouds, which greatly increases the planetary albedo. In
contrast, on rapidly rotating planets a much narrower belt of clouds form in
the deep tropics, leading to a relatively low albedo. A particularly striking
example of the importance of rotation rate suggested by our simulations is that
a planet with modern Earth's atmosphere, in Venus' orbit, and with modern
Venus' (slow) rotation rate would be habitable. This would imply that if Venus
went through a runaway greenhouse, it had a higher rotation rate at that time.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, accepted at Astrophysical Journal Letter
Asymptotic freedom in a scalar field theory on the lattice
An alternative model to the trivial -theory of the standard model of
weak interactions is suggested, which embodies the Higgs-mechanism, but is free
of the conceptual problems of standard -theory. We propose a
N-component, O(N)-symmetric scalar field theory, which is originally defined on
the lattice. The model can be motivated from SU(2) gauge theory. Thereby the
scalar field arises as a gauge invariant degree of freedom. The scalar lattice
model is analytically solved in the large N limit. The continuum limit is
approached via an asymptotically free scaling. The renormalized theory evades
triviality, and furthermore gives rise to a dynamically formed mass of the
scalar particle.Comment: 10 pages, LaTeX, one figure and a motivation for the particular type
of action adde
Environmental Group and Legal expertise: Shaping the Brexit Process
Environmental Groups and Legal Expertise explores the use and understanding of law and legal expertise by environmental groups. Rather than the usual focus on the court room, it scrutinises environmental NGO advocacy during the extraordinarily dramatic Brexit process, from the referendum on leaving the EU in June 2016 to the debate around the new Environment Bill in the first half of 2020. There is generally a weak understanding of both the complexity and the potential of legal expertise in the environmental NGO community. Legal expertise can be more than a tool for campaigners, and more than litigation: it provides distinctive ways of both seeing the world and changing the world. The available legal resource in the sector is not just a practical limit on what can be done, but spills into the very understanding of what should be done, and what resource is needed. Mutually reinforcing links between capacity, understanding, culture and investment affect legal expertise across the board. There are, however, pockets of sophisticated legal expertise in the community, and legal expertise was heavily and often effectively used in the anomalously law-heavy Brexit-environment debate. The ability to call on thinly spread legal expertise in a crisis was in part due to effective NGO collaboration around Brexit-environment
Exact Baryon, Strangeness and Charge Conservation in Hadronic Gas Models
Relativistic heavy ion collisions are studied assuming that particles can be
described by a hadron gas in thermal and chemical equilibrium. The exact
conservation of baryon number, strangeness and charge are explicitly taken into
account. For heavy ions the effect arising from the neutron surplus becomes
important and leads to a substantial increase in e.g. the ratio.
A method is developed which is very well suited for the study of small systems.Comment: 5 pages, 5 Postscript figure
Recommended from our members
Concerning the Relationship of the Didactic and the Plastic in the Visual Arts
The problem of the position and nature of didactic content may arise from within the effort of painting itself. We cannot truly know the whys and hows of creation, and misgivings may invade our attempts at visual communication. How are we involved with didacticism, and what are its forms and possibilities?
We find differences between the child and the adult in the desires and conditioning to expression. The didactic is found herein. Within the multiple forms and ages of visual art didactic exists on numerous levels. The author hypothesizes that in its basic and immediate nature didacticism relates closely to the nature of pure communication itself. The beliefs of some recent artists, as they pertain to the problem, are presented and discussed, as are certain observations on “primitive art.” The conclusion is drawn that a purely visual language exists and is indeed, at the present, the foundation and structure of painting. Within this the didactic may also be implied in its fitting sense.</p
First upper limit analysis and results from LIGO science data: stochastic background
I describe analysis of correlations in the outputs of the three LIGO
interferometers from LIGO's first science run, held over 17 days in August and
September of 2002, and the resulting upper limit set on a stochastic background
of gravitational waves. By searching for cross-correlations between the LIGO
detectors in Livingston, LA and Hanford, WA, we are able to set a 90%
confidence level upper limit of h_{100}^2 Omega_0 < 23 +/- 4.6.Comment: 7 pages; 1 eps figures; proceeding from 2003 Edoardo Amaldi Meeting
on Gravitational Wave
High-CO2 Cloud Radiative Forcing Feedback Over Both Land and Ocean in a Global Climate Model
A positive feedback on high-latitude winter marine climate change involving convective clouds has recently been proposed using simple models. This feedback could help explain data from equable climates, e.g., the Eocene, and might be relevant for future climate. Here this convective cloud feedback is shown to be active in an atmospheric GCM in modern configuration (CAM) at CO2 = 2240 ppm and in a coupled GCM in Eocene configuration (CCSM) at CO2 = 560 ppm. Changes in boundary conditions that increase surface temperature have a similar effect as increases in CO2 concentration. It is also found that the high-latitude winter cloud radiative forcing over land increases with increases in surface temperature due to either increased CO2 or changes in boundary conditions, which could represent an important part of the explanation for warm continental interior winter surface temperatures during equable climates. This is due to increased low-level layered clouds caused by increased relative humidity
Spatio-temporal patterns in the Hantavirus infection
We present a model of the infection of Hantavirus in deer mouse, Peromyscus
maniculatus, based on biological observations of the system in the North
American Southwest. The results of the analysis shed light on relevant
observations of the biological system, such as the sporadical disappearance of
the infection, and the existence of foci or ``refugia'' that perform as
reservoirs of the virus when environmental conditions are less than optimal.Comment: 6 pages, 5 inlined figures, RevTeX 4 forma
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