Cloud optical parameters as derived from the multispectral cloud radiometer

Simultaneous measurements of the liquid water content and particle size have assumed an important role in cloud physics as they help elucidate the mechanism of cloud particle formation and the mechanism of air mass-mixing in stratus clouds. Such measurements can reveal the modification of cloud air masses by anthropogenic aerosol particles (Coakley et al. 1987, Durkee 1989). Studies of the climatic impact of these modification processes on cloud microphysics seems to be urgent for understanding mechanisms of climate change. General Circulation Model (GCM) simulations can be improved by introducing a parameterization of cloud optical properties in terms of integrated liquid water content (liquid water path) and particle size (Slingo 1989). Motivated by the above mentioned circumstances, remote sensing techniques were developed for simultaneously retrieving the cloud optical thickness and effective particle radius, from which the liquid water path can be inferred. Statistical features of the cloud optical thickness (or liquid water path) and effective particle size for marine stratocumulus clouds are presented. These results were obtained during 4 days (7, 10, 13, and 16 July 1987) of observations with the Multispectral Cloud Radiometer (ER-2) and the Thematic Mapper (LANDSAT-5) during the First ISCCP Regional Experiment (FIRE)

Cloud optical parameters as derived from the multispectral cloud radiometer

Here, researchers analyze the data taken in the marine stratocumulus intensive field observation component of the First ISCCP Regional Experiment (FIRE), conducted off the California coast in July, 1987 using the Multispectral Cloud Radiometer (MCR). Researchers installed an efficient retrieval scheme for deriving the cloud optical thickness and droplet mode radius, and have described the behavior of the retrieval error. Generally the scheme can retrieve the optical thickness and mode radius adequately unless they are too small; the use of the forward scattering region is more sound than the use of the backscattering portion. Applying the method to real data, researchers derived the two-dimensional distribution of optical thickness and mode radius for a portion of one of the FIRE marine stratocumulus missions. In this case study, the droplet size showed a more uniform distribution than optical thickness with some correlation between large droplet size and small optical thickness. Although researchers can find microphysical reasons for these tendencies, they suspect that the remotely sensed droplet size may be overestimated. As a future problem, they will compare results with in situ data of the droplet size distribution. Also it will be very important to check several reasons why the droplet radius might be overestimated, e.g., soot contamination, effect of escaping photons from the lateral sides of broken clouds, and so on

An Interpretation of Flat Density Cores of Clusters of Galaxies by Degeneracy Pressure of Fermionic Dark Matter: A Case Study of Abell 1689

Flat density cores have been obtained for a limited number of clusters of galaxies by strong gravitational lensing. This paper explores the possibility that the degeneracy pressure of fermionic dark matter accounts for the flat top density profiles. This is a case study of A1689 for which the density profile has been obtained from the inner region out to 1Mpc by the combination of strong and weak lensing. In the case that the dark matter consists of the mixture of degenerate relic neutrinos and collisionless cold dark matter particles, the acceptable mass range for relic neutrinos is between 1 and 2 eV, if the ratio of the two kinds of dark matter particles is fixed to its cosmic value.Comment: Accepted for Publication in ApJ. Companion paper to astro-ph/060709

Combinatorial realizations of crystals via torus actions on quiver varieties

Consider Kashiwara's crystal associated to a highest weight representation of a symmetric Kac-Moody algebra. There is a geometric realization of this object using Nakajima's quiver varieties, but in many particular cases it can also be realized by elementary combinatorial methods. Here we propose a framework for extracting combinatorial realizations from the geometric picture: We construct certain torus actions on the quiver varieties and use Morse theory to index the irreducible components by connected components of the subvariety of torus fixed points. We then discuss the case of affine sl(n). There the fixed point components are just points, and are naturally indexed by multi-partitions. There is some choice in our construction, leading to a family of combinatorial models for each highest weight crystal. Applying this construction to the crystal of the fundamental representation recovers a family of combinatorial realizations recently constructed by Fayers. This gives a more conceptual proof of Fayers' result as well as a generalization to higher level. We also discuss a relationship with Nakajima's monomial crystal.Comment: 23 pages, v2: added Section 8 on monomial crystals and some references; v3: many small correction

The Gauge-Bethe Correspondence and Geometric Representation Theory

The Gauge/Bethe correspondence of Nekrasov and Shatashvili relates the spectrum of integrable spin chains to the ground states of supersymmetric gauge theories. Up to now, this correspondence has been an observation; the underlying reason for its existence remaining elusive. We argue here that geometrical representation theory is the mathematical foundation of the Gauge/Bethe correspondence, and it provides a framework to study families of gauge theories in a unified way.Comment: 8 page

Infrared Features of the Landau Gauge QCD

The infrared features of Landau gauge QCD are studied by the lattice simulation of $\beta=6.0, 16^4, 24^4, 32^4$ and $\beta=6.4, 32^4, 48^4$. We adopt two definitions of the gauge field; 1) $U-$linear 2) $\log U$ and measured the gluon propagator and ghost propagator. Infrared singularity of the gluon propagator is less than that of tree level result but the gluon propagator at 0 momentum remains finite. The infrared singularity of ghost propagator is stronger than the tree level. The QCD running coupling measured by using the gluon propagator and the ghost propagator has a maximum $\alpha_s(p)\simeq 1$ at around $p=0.5GeV$ and decreases as $p$ approaches 0. The data are analyzed in use of formula of the principle of minimal sensitivity(PMS), the effective charge method and the contour-improved perturbation method, which suggest necessity of the resummation of perturbation series in the infrared region together with existence of the infrared fixed point. Kugo-Ojima parameter saturates at about -0.8 in contrast to the theoretically expected value -1.Comment: RevTex4, 9 pages, 10 eps figures, Typos corrected. To be published in Phys. Rev. D(2004

Spin-squeezed Ground States in the Bilayer Quantum Hall Ferromagnet

A "squeezed-vacuum" state considered in quantum optics is shown to be realized in the ground-state wavefunction for the bilayer quantum Hall system at the total Landau level filling of $\nu=1/m$ (m: odd integer). This is derived in the boson approximation, where a particle-hole pair creation across the symmetric-antisymmetric gap, $\Delta_{SAS}$, is regarded as a boson. In terms of the pseudospin describing the layers, the state is a spin-squeezed state, where the degree of squeezing is controlled by the layer separation and $\Delta_{SAS}$. An exciton condensation, which amounts to a rotated spin-squeezed state, has a higher energy due to the degraded SU(2) symmetry for $\Delta_{SAS} \neq 0$.Comment: 4 pages, revtex, one figure, to appear in PRB Rapid Communicatio

A-site Randomness Effect on Structural and Physical Properties of Ba-based Perovskite Manganites

The discovery of novel structural and physical properties in the $A$-site ordered manganite $R$BaMn$_{2}$O$_{6}$ ($R$ = Y and rare earth elements) has demanded new comprehension about perovskite manganese oxides. In the present study, the $A$-site disordered form, $R_{0.5}$Ba$_{0.5}$MnO$_{3}$, has been investigated and compared with both $R$BaMn$_{2}$O$_{6}$ and $R_{0.5}A_{0.5}$MnO$_{3}$ ($A$: Sr, Ca) in the structures and electromagnetic properties. $R_{0.5}$Ba$_{0.5}$MnO$_{3}$ has a primitive cubic perovskite cell in the structure and magnetic glassy states are dominant as its ground state, in contrast to the ordinary disordered $R_{0.5}A_{0.5}$MnO$_{3}$ ($A$: Sr, Ca). In Pr-compounds with various degrees of Pr/Ba randomness at the $A$-sites, the $A$-site disorder gradually suppresses both ferromagnetic and A-type antiferromagnetic transitions and finally leads to a magnetic glassy state in Pr$_{0.5}$Ba$_{0.5}$MnO$_{3}$. A peculiar behavior, multi-step magnetization and resistivity change, has been observed in Pr$_{0.5}$Ba$_{0.5}$MnO$_{3}$. These properties could be closely related to any spatial heterogeneity caused by the random distribution of Ba$^{2 +}$ and $R^{3 +}$ with much different ionic radius.Comment: 9 pages, to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 73 Aug. (2004