2,116 research outputs found
Ecological risk assessment of hydropower dam construction based on ecological network analysis
Dam construction is regarded as one of the major factors contributing to significant modifications of the river ecosystems, and the ecological risk (ER) assessment of dam construction has received growing attention in recent years. In the present study, we explored the potential ecological risk caused by dam project based on the general principles of the ecological risk assessment. Ecological network analysis was proposed as the usable analytic method for the implement of ecological risk assessment, thus contributing to the modelling of dam-induced risk process. Applying ecological network analysis to the ecological risk assessment of river ecosystems after dam construction, this study may provide important insights into the understanding of how an affected river ecosystem reacts to the artificial perturbation on a whole-ecosystem scale
Information indices from ecological network analysis for urban metabolic system
The system analysis of urban metabolic system, still a black box in urban research, has been underlined recently due to its important role in assessing the sustainability of urban ecosystem. An interpretation of the information indices from ecological network analysis when combined with urban metabolic research, however, has not been addressed systematically. In this study, a conceptual network model of urban metabolic systems was developed based on the identification of seven compartments. Emergy analysis and extended exergy analysis were introduced in order to define the proper way of quantifying the material and energy flows within the system. After that, the information indices derived from ecological network analysis such as developmental capacity, ascendancy, overload were proposed as the potential indicators reflecting the sustainability of urban development. An interpretation of these information indices when embedded into urban metabolic system was conducted to further demonstrate their potential application to urban research. With the qualification and interpretation of these information indices from network analysis, this study may provide some lights on unfolding the black box
Constraining the variation of the coupling constants with big bang nucleosynthesis
We consider the possibility of the coupling constants of the gauge interactions at the time of big bang nucleosynthesis
having taken different values from what we measure at present, and investigate
the allowed difference requiring the shift in the coupling constants not
violate the successful calculation of the primordial abundances of the light
elements. We vary gauge couplings and Yukawa couplings (fermion masses) using a
model in which their relative variations are governed by a single scalar field,
dilaton, as found in string theory. The results include a limit on the fine
structure constant
, which is
two orders stricter than the limit obtained by considering the variation of
alone.Comment: 7 page
Magnetotunneling spectroscopy of mesoscopic correlations in two-dimensional electron systems
An approach to experimentally exploring electronic correlation functions in
mesoscopic regimes is proposed. The idea is to monitor the mesoscopic
fluctuations of a tunneling current flowing between the two layers of a
semiconductor double-quantum-well structure. From the dependence of these
fluctuations on external parameters, such as in-plane or perpendicular magnetic
fields, external bias voltages, etc., the temporal and spatial dependence of
various prominent correlation functions of mesoscopic physics can be
determined. Due to the absence of spatially localized external probes, the
method provides a way to explore the interplay of interaction and localization
effects in two-dimensional systems within a relatively unperturbed environment.
We describe the theoretical background of the approach and quantitatively
discuss the behavior of the current fluctuations in diffusive and ergodic
regimes. The influence of both various interaction mechanisms and localization
effects on the current is discussed. Finally a proposal is made on how, at
least in principle, the method may be used to experimentally determine the
relevant critical exponents of localization-delocalization transitions.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures include
-dimensions Dirac fermions BEC-BCS cross-over thermodynamics
An effective Proca Lagrangian action is used to address the vector
condensation Lorentz violation effects on the equation of state of the strongly
interacting fermions system. The interior quantum fluctuation effects are
incorporated as an external field approximation indirectly through a fictive
generalized Thomson Problem counterterm background. The general analytical
formulas for the -dimensions thermodynamics are given near the unitary limit
region. In the non-relativistic limit for , the universal dimensionless
coefficient and energy gap are
reasonably consistent with the existed theoretical and experimental results. In
the unitary limit for and T=0, the universal coefficient can even
approach the extreme occasion corresponding to the infinite effective
fermion mass which can be mapped to the strongly coupled
two-dimensions electrons and is quite similar to the three-dimensions
Bose-Einstein Condensation of ideal boson gas. Instead, for , the
universal coefficient is negative, implying the non-existence of phase
transition from superfluidity to normal state. The solutions manifest the
quantum Ising universal class characteristic of the strongly coupled unitary
fermions gas.Comment: Improved versio
Relativistic mean-field study of neutron-rich nuclei
A relativistic mean-field model is used to study the ground-state properties
of neutron-rich nuclei. Nonlinear isoscalar-isovector terms, unconstrained by
present day phenomenology, are added to the model Lagrangian in order to modify
the poorly known density dependence of the symmetry energy. These new terms
soften the symmetry energy and reshape the theoretical neutron drip line
without compromising the agreement with existing ground-state information. A
strong correlation between the neutron radius of 208Pb and the binding energy
of valence orbitals is found: the smaller the neutron radius of 208Pb, the
weaker the binding energy of the last occupied neutron orbital. Thus, models
with the softest symmetry energy are the first ones to drip neutrons. Further,
in anticipation of the upcoming one-percent measurement of the neutron radius
of 208Pb at the Thomas Jefferson Laboratory, a close relationship between the
neutron radius of 208Pb and neutron radii of elements of relevance to atomic
parity-violating experiments is established.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure
Assessing urban carbon metabolism using network analysis across Chinese and European cities
Urban metabolism uses the idea that cities are resource consuming systems that are supported by flows of energy and materials, and they produce goods and wastes, which generate greenhouse gas emissions both directly and indirectly. This research builds on other recent applications of input-output and ecological network analyses to urban metabolism with added value of comparing in one study both approaches across Europe and China specifically at the city scale. We use input-output (IO) and ecological network analyses (ENA) in a study of the urban metabolism of four cities, Vienna, Austria, Malmö, Sweden, Beijing and Shanghai, China. Based on economic input-output tables and environmental weighting coefficients, we create a connected network of flows between 17 economic sectors that captures the carbon emissions from transactions in a producer orientation. Ecological network analysis is conducted to identify the main sectors contributing to the direct and indirect carbon emissions in the four cities. Our results reveal these to be Transportation, Manufacturing, and Electricity production. Furthermore, we show that final demand in terms of domestic export is the highest contributor in each city, indicating that each city is a producer overall in the countries’ economies generating carbon flows that are consumed elsewhere
Relativistic Coulomb Sum Rules for
A Coulomb sum rule is derived for the response of nuclei to
scattering with large three-momentum transfers. Unlike the nonrelativistic
formulation, the relativistic Coulomb sum is restricted to spacelike
four-momenta for the most direct connection with experiments; an immediate
consequence is that excitations involving antinucleons, e.g., pair
production, are approximately eliminated from the sum rule. Relativistic recoil
and Fermi motion of target nucleons are correctly incorporated. The sum rule
decomposes into one- and two-body parts, with correlation information in the
second. The one-body part requires information on the nucleon momentum
distribution function, which is incorporated by a moment expansion method. The
sum rule given through the second moment (RCSR-II) is tested in the Fermi gas
model, and is shown to be sufficiently accurate for applications to data.Comment: 32 pages (LaTeX), 4 postscript figures available from the author
The nuclear shell effects near the r-process path in the relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov theory
We have investigated the evolution of the shell structure of nuclei in going
from the r-process path to the neutron drip line within the framework of the
Relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov (RHB) theory. By introducing the quartic
self-coupling of meson in the RHB theory in addition to the non-linear
scalar coupling of meson, we reproduce the available data on the shell
effects about the waiting-point nucleus Zn. With this approach, it is
shown that the shell effects at N=82 in the inaccessible region of the
r-process path become milder as compared to the Lagrangian with the scalar
self-coupling only. However, the shell effects remain stronger as compared to
the quenching exhibited by the HFB+SkP approach. It is also shown that in
reaching out to the extreme point at the neutron drip line, a terminal
situation arises where the shell structure at the magic number is washed out
significantly.Comment: 18 pages (revtex), 8 ps figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Low-Energy Universality in Atomic and Nuclear Physics
An effective field theory developed for systems interacting through
short-range interactions can be applied to systems of cold atoms with a large
scattering length and to nucleons at low energies. It is therefore the ideal
tool to analyze the universal properties associated with the Efimov effect in
three- and four-body systems. In this "progress report", we will discuss recent
results obtained within this framework and report on progress regarding the
inclusion of higher order corrections associated with the finite range of the
underlying interaction.Comment: Commissioned article for Few-Body Systems, 47 pp, 16 fig
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