317 research outputs found
A comparison of the Characteristics and Fate of Barrow's Goldeneye and Bufflehead Nests in Nest Boxes and Natural Cavities
Abstract. Barrow's Goldeneye (Bucephala islandica) and Bufflehead (B. albeola) are
cavity-nesting waterfowl that have received considerable attention in studies using nest
boxes, but little is known about their nesting ecology in natural cavities. We found larger
clutch size, lower nesting success, and different major predators for Barrow's Goldeneyes
nesting in boxes versus those nesting in natural cavities, but few differences for Bufflehead.
These differencesa re attributedt o the location and physical differencesb etween Barrow's
Goldeneyen est boxes and naturalc avities that affect theirc onspicuousnesst o predatorsa nd
conspecific nest-parasitizingfe males. Goldeneyeb oxes were concentratedin highly visible
locations such as trees at water or forest edge. Natural cavity nests, on the other hand, were
often abandoned Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) cavities, which were more dispersed
throughout the forest interior and concealed under dense canopy cover. Bufflehead
natural cavity nests were typically closer to edges, which may account for their similarity
with boxes. We conclude that in some respects, studies of Barrow's Goldeneye that use nest
boxes may not be representativeo f birds nesting in naturalc avities, whereast hose of Bufflehead
are more likely to be so
Quantum Mirrors and Crossing Symmetry as Heart of Ghost Imaging
In this paper it is proved that the key to understanding the ghost imaging
mystery are the crossing symmetric photon reactions in the nonlinear media.
Hence, the laws of the plane quantum mirror (QM) and that of spherical quantum
mirror, observed in the ghost imaging experiments, are obtained as natural
consequences of the energy-momentum conservation laws. So, it is shown that the
ghost imaging laws depend only on the energy-momentum conservation and not on
the photons entanglement. The extension of these results to the ghost imaging
with other kind of light is discussed. Some fundamental experiments for a
decisive tests of the [SPDC-DFG]-quantum mirror are suggested.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figure
Size and frequency of natural forest disturbances and Amazon carbon balance
Forest inventory studies in the Amazon indicate a large terrestrial carbon sink. However, field plots may fail to represent forest mortality processes at landscape-scales of tropical forests. Here we characterize the frequency distribution of disturbance events in natural forests from 0.01 ha to 2,651 ha size throughout Amazonia using a novel combination of forest inventory, airborne lidar and satellite remote sensing data. We find that small-scale mortality events are responsible for aboveground biomass losses of B1.28 Pg C y 1 over the entire Amazon region. We also find that intermediate-scale disturbances account for losses of B0.01 Pg C y 1 , and that the largest-scale disturbances as a result of blow-downs only account for losses of B0.003 Pg C y 1 . Simulation of growth and mortality indicates that even when all carbon losses from intermediate and large-scale disturbances are considered, these are outweighed by the net biomass accumulation by tree growth, supporting the inference of an Amazon carbon sink
An all-solid-state laser source at 671 nm for cold atom experiments with lithium
We present an all solid-state narrow line-width laser source emitting
output power at delivered in a
diffraction-limited beam. The \linebreak source is based on a
fre-quency-doubled diode-end-linebreak pumped ring laser operating on the
transition in Nd:YVO. By using
periodically-poled po-tassium titanyl phosphate (ppKTP) in an external build-up
cavity, doubling efficiencies of up to 86% are obtained. Tunability of the
source over is accomplished. We demonstrate the suitability of
this robust frequency-stabilized light source for laser cooling of lithium
atoms. Finally a simplified design based on intra-cavity doubling is described
and first results are presented
Branch-and-lift algorithm for deterministic global optimization in nonlinear optimal control
This paper presents a branch-and-lift algorithm for solving optimal control problems with smooth nonlinear dynamics and potentially nonconvex objective and constraint functionals to guaranteed global optimality. This algorithm features a direct sequential method and builds upon a generic, spatial branch-and-bound algorithm. A new operation, called lifting, is introduced, which refines the control parameterization via a Gram-Schmidt orthogonalization process, while simultaneously eliminating control subregions that are either infeasible or that provably cannot contain any global optima. Conditions are given under which the image of the control parameterization error in the state space contracts exponentially as the parameterization order is increased, thereby making the lifting operation efficient. A computational technique based on ellipsoidal calculus is also developed that satisfies these conditions. The practical applicability of branch-and-lift is illustrated in a numerical example. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York
Guaranteed and randomized methods for stability analysis of uncertain metabolic networks
A persistent problem hampering our understanding of the dynamics of large-scale metabolic networks is the lack of experimentally determined kinetic parameters that are necessary to build computationalmodels of biochemical processes. To overcome some of the limitations imposed by absent or incomplete kinetic data, structural kinetic modeling (SKM) was proposed recently as an intermediate approach between stoichiometric analysis and a full kinetic description. SKM extends stationary flux-balance analysis (FBA) by a local stability analysis utilizing an appropriate parametrization of the Jacobian matrix. To characterize the Jacobian, we utilize results from robust control theory to determine subintervals of the Jacobian’ entries that correspond to asymptotically stable metabolic states. Furthermore, we propose an efficient sampling scheme in combination with methods from computational geometry to sketch the stability region. A glycolytic pathway model comprising 12 uncertain parameters is used to assess the feasibility of the method
Transport Properties of the Quark-Gluon Plasma -- A Lattice QCD Perspective
Transport properties of a thermal medium determine how its conserved charge
densities (for instance the electric charge, energy or momentum) evolve as a
function of time and eventually relax back to their equilibrium values. Here
the transport properties of the quark-gluon plasma are reviewed from a
theoretical perspective. The latter play a key role in the description of
heavy-ion collisions, and are an important ingredient in constraining particle
production processes in the early universe. We place particular emphasis on
lattice QCD calculations of conserved current correlators. These Euclidean
correlators are related by an integral transform to spectral functions, whose
small-frequency form determines the transport properties via Kubo formulae. The
universal hydrodynamic predictions for the small-frequency pole structure of
spectral functions are summarized. The viability of a quasiparticle description
implies the presence of additional characteristic features in the spectral
functions. These features are in stark contrast with the functional form that
is found in strongly coupled plasmas via the gauge/gravity duality. A central
goal is therefore to determine which of these dynamical regimes the quark-gluon
plasma is qualitatively closer to as a function of temperature. We review the
analysis of lattice correlators in relation to transport properties, and
tentatively estimate what computational effort is required to make decisive
progress in this field.Comment: 54 pages, 37 figures, review written for EPJA and APPN; one parag.
added end of section 3.4, and one at the end of section 3.2.2; some Refs.
added, and some other minor change
Probing exotic phenomena at the interface of nuclear and particle physics with the electric dipole moments of diamagnetic atoms: A unique window to hadronic and semi-leptonic CP violation
The current status of electric dipole moments of diamagnetic atoms which
involves the synergy between atomic experiments and three different theoretical
areas -- particle, nuclear and atomic is reviewed. Various models of particle
physics that predict CP violation, which is necessary for the existence of such
electric dipole moments, are presented. These include the standard model of
particle physics and various extensions of it. Effective hadron level combined
charge conjugation (C) and parity (P) symmetry violating interactions are
derived taking into consideration different ways in which a nucleon interacts
with other nucleons as well as with electrons. Nuclear structure calculations
of the CP-odd nuclear Schiff moment are discussed using the shell model and
other theoretical approaches. Results of the calculations of atomic electric
dipole moments due to the interaction of the nuclear Schiff moment with the
electrons and the P and time-reversal (T) symmetry violating
tensor-pseudotensor electron-nucleus are elucidated using different
relativistic many-body theories. The principles of the measurement of the
electric dipole moments of diamagnetic atoms are outlined. Upper limits for the
nuclear Schiff moment and tensor-pseudotensor coupling constant are obtained
combining the results of atomic experiments and relativistic many-body
theories. The coefficients for the different sources of CP violation have been
estimated at the elementary particle level for all the diamagnetic atoms of
current experimental interest and their implications for physics beyond the
standard model is discussed. Possible improvements of the current results of
the measurements as well as quantum chromodynamics, nuclear and atomic
calculations are suggested.Comment: 46 pages, 19 tables and 16 figures. A review article accepted for
EPJ
Measurement of the B0-anti-B0-Oscillation Frequency with Inclusive Dilepton Events
The - oscillation frequency has been measured with a sample of
23 million \B\bar B pairs collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II
asymmetric B Factory at SLAC. In this sample, we select events in which both B
mesons decay semileptonically and use the charge of the leptons to identify the
flavor of each B meson. A simultaneous fit to the decay time difference
distributions for opposite- and same-sign dilepton events gives ps.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, submitted to Physical Review Letter
Dynamics of spherically symmetric spacetimes: hydrodynamics and radiation
Using the 3+1 formalism of general relativity we obtain the equations
governing the dynamics of spherically symmetric spacetimes with arbitrary
sources. We then specialize for the case of perfect fluids accompanied by a
flow of interacting massless or massive particles (e.g. neutrinos) which are
described in terms of relativistic transport theory. We focus in three types of
coordinates: 1) isotropic gauge and maximal slicing, 2) radial gauge and polar
slicing, and 3) isotropic gauge and polar slicing.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev. D, 46 pages, RevTex file, no figure
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